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82 GLAAD, AIM, VQT
Television watchdogs
Rank last year: — Who they are: The Gay and Lesbian Alliance
Against Defamation, Accuracy in Media, Viewers for Quality Television
(founded by Dorothy Swanson), various environmental groups,
etc. Why they're up: Networks don't always obey them, but they
listen. High point: The pro-environment messages in many prime-time
series are the result of quiet, behind-the-scenes lobbying. X factor: No group has ever mounted a successful national boycott, but that
doesn't mean the networks don't fear the possibility.
83 LAWRENCE GORDON
CEO, Chairman, Largo Entertainment
Rank last year: — Age: 56 Why he's up: One of the few producers
with access to an independent source of financing, Godon can call his
own shots. New deal: Gordon's three-year-old Largo Entertainment just
scored $125 million form its partner, JVC Entertainment, and a
banking syndicate. High point: The thriller Unlawful Entry proved a
solid offering, grossing more than $55 million. Next big move: This
Christmas' Used People has an Oscar-caliber cast that includes
Shirley MacLaine, Jessica Tandy, and Kathy Bates.
84 JOHN GRISHAM
Writer
Rank last year: — Age: 37 High point: Grisham's three novels — The
Firm, The Pelican Brief, and A Time to Kill — owned the best-seller
lists and lured big Hollywood stars, from Tom Cruise, who'll star in
The Firm, to Julia Roberts, who's interested in Pelican. Low point: Paramount paid Grisham $600,000 for The Firm, then contemplated (and
rejected) a sex change for one of the novel's major characters. Next
big move: Grisham's upcoming novel, The Client, part of his $6
million Doubleday deal, has already been been sold to the movies.
85 RICK NICITA/JACK RAPKE
Co-heads, motion picture department, Creative Artists Agency
Rank last year: — Ages: 46 (Nicita); 42 (Rapke) Low point: Nicita, who mostly handles actors, couldn't keep his mercurial client
Debra Winger from exiting Penny Marshall's A League of Their Own.
High point: Nicita saved the day by seeing that Winger was replaced
by rising CAA client Geena Davis, who led League to a $100
million-plus domestic gross. Last big move: Rapke, who attends to
directors, has been busy extricating Ron Howard from his old deal
with Imagine Films Entertainment, Howard's own company. Bottom line: There's no need for these two to take the studio jobs that are
regularly dangled in front of them: Together, with such clients as Al
Pacino, Jonathan Demme, Robert Zemeckis, and John Hughes, Rapke and
Nicita run a virtual studio of their own.
86 JOEL SILVER
Action-film producer
Rank last year: Fallen Age: 40 Why he's up: Silver proved he could
make a film on the cheap with Ricochet, erased some of the stink
around Hudson Hawk with the $59 million success of The Last Boy
Scout, and hit a home run with Lethal Weapon 3. Next big move: Another megasequel: Beverly Hills Cop 3. And he'll be taking some
risks, too, trying to revive Sly Stallone's career with Demolition
Man and giving the arty Coen brothers a $25 million budget to make
The Hudsucker Proxy.
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